Kraft Television Theatre broadcast some 585 episodes on NBC between May 1947 and October 1958. The series ran year-round with no summer breaks, meaning it didn’t have traditional seasons. I’ve aligned this status guide with episode lists and guides available online, like those found at TV.com, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), and the Classic TV Archive (CTVA).

Season 6 of Kraft Television Theatre premiered on October 1952 and ended in August 1953. This was a change from earlier seasons, which all ran from September to September (except for the first season, which ran from May 1947 to September 1948). The series was pre-empted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 1953 for a speech by President Eisenhower which ran from 9:30-10PM. To fill out the 9-10PM hour, NBC broadcast an episode of My Son Jeep from 9-9:30PM. A total of 47 episodes were broadcast during the 1952-1953 season, of which at least 16 are known to exist.

A special “Sixth Anniversary Show” aired on May 6th, 1953. It featured segments from four earlier episodes recreated with their original stars:

“January Thaw” (originally broadcast October 8th, 1947)

“Wuthering Heights” (originally broadcast November 24th, 1948)

“Of Famous Memory” (originally broadcast March 21st, 1951)

“My Brother’s Keeper” (originally broadcast March 4th, 1953)

Why was one of the segments from an episode broadcast only months before the anniversary show itself? Perhaps because “My Brother’s Keeper” was the 300th episode of the series. At least that’s according to the announcement at the start of the episode:

“Good evening. This is Ed Herlihy speaking for the Kraft Foods Company, makers of the world’s favorite cheese, who bring you each week all year long a fine play with a fine cast, on the Kraft Television Theatre. Tonight we present the 300th play in this Wednesday evening series: ‘My Brother’s Keeper,’ by George Roy Hill.”

Based on TV listings drawn from The New York Times and other newspapers, however, “My Brother’s Keeper” was actually the 302nd episode of Kraft Television Theatre. According to The Classic TV Archive it was the 303rd episode.

The Library of Congress has 14 episodes from this season in its collection. The Paley Center for Media has three complete episodes and portions of two others. The UCLA Film & Television Archive has two episodes. Both the Museum of Broadcast Communications and the Peabody Awards Collection each have one episode. Together, these five institutions have copies of 16 different episodes.

Keep in mind that just because the big TV archives/museums only have certain episodes doesn’t mean there aren’t additional episodes of Kraft Television Theatre from the 1952-1953 season out there somewhere.

Season 6: 1952-1953

#

Episode Title

Airdate

Status

280

“Michael and Mary”

10/01/1952

LOC

281

“The New Tenant”

10/08/1952

282

“A Kiss for Cinderella”

10/15/1952

283

“A Long Night in Forty-Mile”

10/22/1952

284

“Divine Drudge”

10/29/1952

285

“Melody Jones”

11/05/1952

286

“Hilda McKay”

11/12/1952

287

“The Quiet Wedding”

11/19/1952

288

“Mr. Lazarus”

11/26/1952

LOC

289

“Iron Gate”

12/03/1952

290

“The Intimate Strangers”

12/10/1952

291

“The Guest Room”

12/17/1952

292

“A Christmas Carol”

12/24/1952

293

“Paper Moon”

12/31/1952

LOC

294

“The Fire Below and the Devil Above”

01/07/1953

LOC

295

“Zone Four”

01/14/1953

296

“A Square Peg”

01/21/1953

297

“Duet”

01/28/1953

LOC/Paley

298

“The Chess Game”

02/04/1953

LOC

299

“Right You Are!”

02/11/1953

300

“Snooksie”

02/18/1953

LOC/Paley*

301

“Star Bright”

02/25/1953

302

“My Brother’s Keeper”

03/04/1953

LOC/Paley/UCLA/MBC**

303

“So Very Young”

03/11/1953

304

“Autumn Story”

03/18/1953

305

“Miss Mabel”

03/25/1953

306

“The Summer Place”

04/01/1953

307

“Next of Kin”

04/08/1953

LOC

308

“Rain No More”

04/15/1953

LOC

309

“The New Servant”

04/22/1953

310

“Hoodlum with a Halo”

04/29/1953

311

“The Sixth Anniversary Show”

05/06/1953

LOC/Paley/UCLA

312

“Final Edition”

05/13/1953

313

“One Left Over”

05/20/1953

Peabody

314

“The Twilight Rounds”

05/27/1953

LOC

PRE-EMPTED: My Friend Jeep/Eisenhower Speech

06/03/1953

315

“The Ascent of P.J. O’Hara”

06/10/1953

316

“Boy of Mine”

06/17/1953

317

“The Rainy Day”

06/24/1953

318

“The Diehard”

07/01/1953

319

“The House Beautiful”

07/08/1953

320

“The Blind Spot”

07/15/1953

321

“The Adventure of the Kind Mr. Smith”

07/22/1953

322

“The Intruder”

07/29/1953

323

“Old MacDonald Had a Curve”

08/05/1953

LOC/Paley

324

“Day of the Vision”

08/12/1953

Paley

325

“In Albert’s Room”

08/19/1953

326

“The Blues for Joey Menotti”

08/26/1953

LOC

*According to its online database, the Paley Center for Media only has the first half of “Snooksie” in its collection.
**According to its online database, the Paley Center for Media only has the second half of “My Brother’s Keeper” in its collection.

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